


We Know The Game

by dinosaursmate



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Arguing, Blow Jobs, Canon Compliant, Flirting, Future Fic, Graphic mentions of past sexual activities, Hand Jobs, Innuendo, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Teasing, They are broken up, but there's no angst, humour and smut, i guess?, it's just basically, just a few years in the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 02:45:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7917361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinosaursmate/pseuds/dinosaursmate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis made his way down the aisle, finding his row and excusing himself past people to get to his seat. He sat down, glancing at the person on his left and doing a double take.<br/>“Oh, for God’s sake.”<br/>“What’re you doing here?!”<br/>Louis stared at Harry in disbelief, anger boiling up inside him.<br/>“What are you doing here?” Louis said. “James told me you weren’t coming.”</p><p>Louis ends up next to his ex at the theatre and just might end up killing him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Know The Game

**Author's Note:**

> I was SO excited about this fic! It wouldn't be what it is without the wonderful assistance and support of my betas, [Steph](http://mommotommo.tumblr.com/) and [Jacky](https://dimpled-halo.tumblr.com/). You two are the absolute best <3

“I reserved your ticket for my press night, by the way.”

“Oh, cheers!” 

“You sure you don’t need a plus-one?” 

“James, who am I going to bring, exactly?” Louis huffed impatiently down the phone. “Liam’s on tour in Japan. Niall’s got a golf thing that night, and my family are all much busier than I am.”

“Okay, I was just asking.”

“None of my other friends would want to come,” Louis said miserably. “I’m such a loner.”

“Oh, stop.”

“It’s fine. It’s the theatre, not like you need someone to talk to. Anyway, there’ll be plenty of people I know at the party, won’t there?”

“Yeah, course,” James said. “One ticket it is.”

“Cheers mate, I’ll chat to you later.” 

“Okay, dude.”

“Oh- James?” Louis said quickly. “ _ He’s _ not gonna be there, is he? You know-”

“Absolutely not, mate,” James reassured him. “I promise.”

-

Louis made his way down the aisle, finding his row and excusing himself past people to get to his seat. He sat down, glancing at the person on his left and doing a double take.

“Oh, for God’s sake.”

“What’re you doing here?!”

Louis stared at Harry in disbelief, anger boiling up inside him.

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” Louis said. “James told me you weren’t coming.”

“Well, ditto.” Harry sighed. 

“Why did you even come?! James is  _ my _ friend.”

Louis hadn’t really seen Harry much since they’d broken up. Occasionally, the band got together for an event or a one-off gig, but Louis and Harry avoided each other as best they could. If they had to be together, they wouldn’t really speak - except maybe to get in the odd dig or insult.

It was coming up to a year since they’d split. It had been - in a word - messy. It was sad, really. They’d felt themselves drifting apart and in retrospect, they probably could’ve done more to save their relationship. The worst part had been that when Louis felt Harry drifting he’d begun to worry his eye was starting to wander and that had been the worst feeling in the world. Their break-up was the single most distressing thing that had happened to Louis. It was still painful to be near Harry, and he hated him for his part in letting it happen. That may have been irrational, but Louis just had no other way to deal with it.

“Unbelievable,” Harry scoffed, and Louis felt a surge of anger. “James is friends with both of us, Louis.”

Louis pressed his lips into a tight line and sent off a furious text to James, explaining the physical punishment he’d be giving him for this. James responded, making it pretty clear that he’d done this on purpose. Maybe Louis should’ve given James over to Harry in the split after all.

“I don’t believe this,” Louis growled under his breath. “I’m going to speak to a manager.”

Louis shuffled past the row of people again, getting into the aisle and realising Harry was following him. He made his way out into the foyer, finding a manager and putting on his most winning smile.

“Hi,” he said. “I’d just like to have a word about my seat. Got a bit of a problem, really. I’m Louis Tomlinson, I’m a guest of James Corden. There’s been a bit of a mix up, see, me and my ex-bandmate, here-” He gestured to Harry who was loitering behind him, “-and ex-fiance, we’ve been placed next to each other and it’s a bit of a problem, if I’m honest.”

“I’m so sorry.” The manager smiled politely, looking from Louis to Harry. “The producers allocated the tickets, and we’re completely sold out tonight. There aren’t any free seats whatsoever.”

“But…” Louis said, hearing panic creep into his voice. “I’ll murder him. You don’t want a murder on your conscience, I’m sure?”

“Sir, I’m sure you can appreciate how busy we are tonight,” the manager responded, trying really hard to hide a smile that was threatening to break across her face.

“Okay,” he replied, admitting defeat. “Thanks for your time.”

Louis rolled his eyes, turning back to Harry with his arms folded. 

“You’re such an arsehole,” Harry said, a smirk creeping onto his face. “‘My name’s Louis Tomlinson!’ Trust you to try and use your bloody fame to get what you want. Disgusting. You think you’re  _ so charming. _ ”

“Oh, shut up!” Louis growled. “What are we gonna do?”

“You should just go home.”

“ _ You _ should!” Louis shot back before sighing. “Look, we’re here for James. Maybe we should just try and get through this. We can manage two hours.”

“It’s more like three.”

“Fuck.”

They returned to their seats, and Louis had a passing thought of making small talk but he didn’t actually trust himself to talk to Harry. He didn’t want to hear about Harry’s life for a multitude of reasons, and he certainly didn’t want to give Harry any details of his own life.

They sat in relative silence for about ten minutes, Harry sniffing every thirty seconds and Louis had to bite his tongue to stop himself snapping at him for it. 

“Niall told me you downsized,” Harry said. “Moved out to Hertfordshire.”

“Yeah, so?” 

“Just found it interesting. Struggling for money, are we?”

“Are you stupid? Hertfordshire is expensive. Why would I need to live in London? And I didn’t need such a big house. Especially now that I don’t need to house your big head and all your self-congratulating awards.”

“Are you trying to act like you don’t display your awards?”

“Artist Of The Year. Best British Group. Not crap like Choice Male Hottie or Best Dressed Male.”

“That’s because you didn’t win any.” Harry raised his eyebrows smugly. “Also, don’t forget I once won an award for Good Grammar.”

This was the thing - whenever they argued, they laid into each other for things they didn’t even believe about the other. Louis  _ knew _ Harry wasn’t self-absorbed, knew he didn’t display silly awards next to prestigious ones. All that mattered was that Harry absolutely hated when he was accused of being self-absorbed.

“Niall told me you have a room full of pictures of yourself, Louis offered.

“Stop telling lies!” Harry laughed.  _ God, _ his laugh was annoying. “Don’t try and implicate Niall in your bullshit.”

“You know, we don’t have to talk to each other,” Louis said, annoyed. “The sound of your voice is making me want to tear my hair out as it is.”

Harry smirked, opening his mouth to speak just as the lights went down, and he closed his mouth abruptly. Louis was glad that not only did Harry not get to express whatever insult he’d intended to, but that they no longer had to speak to each other.

Louis managed to focus on watching James. He was absolutely brilliant, which was not at all new information to Louis. He smiled to himself, feeling proud, faltering when Harry’s elbow knocked his own off of the arm rest. He shot him a scowl, nudging back on Harry’s elbow to reclaim the arm rest. They battled for a few seconds before Louis leaned over to pinch the inside of Harry’s elbow. Harry let out a tiny yelp, withdrawing his arm and giving Louis a dark look.

A few scenes later, Harry knocked his knee into Louis’, and Louis nearly lost it. 

“Can you close your legs?” Louis whispered to him. “Your balls aren’t  _ that _ big.”

Harry snorted, stretching his legs out under the seat in front and crossing his ankles.

This was absolute torture. Louis really, really wanted to slap Harry around the face to relieve his tension. But the worst thing of all was the smell of Harry’s aftershave, wafting over every time he fidgeted, bringing memories flooding back to Louis. It was disarming. The last thing Louis wanted was to be disarmed when it came to Harry. 

A couple of elbow battles later, the lights came up for the interval and Louis leapt to his feet.

“Right.” Harry sighed, standing up, too. “I’m off to the bar.”

“You’re only going to the bar because you know I’m going. Bloody bastard.”

“And you call  _ me _ the self-absorbed one? Why would I want to follow you around?”

“Shut up,” Louis snapped, following Harry out of their row. “You’d follow me around because you know it would wind me up. You’re just sad like that.”

“Fuck it.” Harry sighed as they reached the bar. “I’m getting pissed. Double Gin and Tonic, please.”

“Anything else, sir?” The young girl behind the bar asked.

“JD and Coke,” Louis said. “And a Peroni, please.”

“What are you doing?” Harry glared at him. “Don’t think I’m paying for yours.”

Louis scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Oh, just buy me a drink, you tight bastard.”

Harry looked at him curiously, leaning on the bar and shuffling a little closer to Louis, a smirk slowly spreading across his face.

“You know… You always used to  _ love _ how tight I was.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not exactly-” Louis stopped abruptly when he caught onto what Harry was insinuating. “Oh.”

Louis wanted to  _ die _ as he felt a flush creep up his neck. He wasn’t sure if he was flustered by not catching onto the double entendre or by the innuendo itself. He’d walked into it really, hadn’t he? And now he could see victory on Harry’s face, elated he’d managed to fluster Louis. Shit shit shit.

“Shut up, Harry,” Louis replied lamely, downing half of his Jack Daniels as soon as it was laid in front of him. “I noticed you used the word, ‘was’. Not as tight these days?” He asked pouting in faux-sympathy as Harry handed his credit card over.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Harry said slowly with a grin, popping his hip slightly and sticking out his bum. Louis’ eyes automatically flickered down, snapping them back up again immediately and avoiding Harry’s eyes. “Maybe you should come round sometime and find out.”

Louis rolled his eyes, trying not to portray his tension and absolutely ignoring whatever was going on with his dick right now. This wasn’t fair. Harry was exploiting Louis’ weakness. And it was one hell of a weakness, since he’d not yet managed to bring himself to sleep with anyone else after their split. He was chronically horny and the bastard was hitting him right where it hurt.

“You’re alright.” Louis frowned, as if the mere idea disgusted him. “If I wanted to hear your pathetic little whines, I’d just follow my cleaning lady around. She makes a very similar sound when she’s stretching to clean the tops of the cabinets.”

Harry blinked at him in exaggerated disbelief. 

“Wanker,” Harry stated, standing up straight and striding off in the direction of his seat. Louis trailed after him.

“You always did love the sound of your own voice,” Louis said, voice laced with mirth. “Especially in bed.”

Harry smirked, shaking his head and sitting down in his seat. “I know you loved it when I was loud. At least I didn’t talk constantly. Oh God, especially when you were high. You literally would not shut up. Never got any bloody peace.”

“Right, that’s why you went elsewhere,” Louis said with a bitter laugh. “For the peace and quiet.”

Harry slammed his hand down hard on the armrest, making Louis jump.

“No,” he growled. “I never cheated on you. You know I didn’t. Never say that again.”

“Okay,” Louis said quietly. “Sorry.”

“I would  _ never  _ have cheated on you, Louis.”

“Okay. I know. Sorry, Haz.”

The silence was heavy and awkward and Louis chugged the rest of his JD and coke and started on his beer.

“I can’t believe you’d even begin to think I’d have done that. Especially to you,” Harry said quietly. “I don’t know where you got such an idea. Is that what you think of me?”

“No, no.” Louis sighed. “I’m sorry. I should’ve known better.”

Well,  _ now _ Louis felt shitty. Had he really jumped to conclusions? Of course he had. He mentally slapped himself to his senses. There’s no way  _ his Harry _ would’ve been unfaithful. Maybe blaming Harry had been easier than admitting that he himself was partly to blame. Like it or not, Louis was just as responsible as Harry for their split. If only they’d worked harder... 

He stared at his lap, feeling awful. He searched his brain for something,  _ anything _ to break the tense silence.

“Anyway,” Louis piped up. “You used to tell me off when I was quiet.”

“No I didn’t!” Harry laughed and Louis felt unbelievably relieved. “It’s good to know that you still talk absolute shit.” 

“That’s rich!” Louis scoffed. “You always used to talk the most shit in the band. That’s undeniable!”

“Nope. I never talk shit.”

“When you used to act as if you were amazing in bed, that was bullshit.”

Harry just shook his head again, a grin now permanently etched on his face. Louis scoffed grumpily and folded his arms.

“Oh, come on. Don’t think I’ve forgotten,” Harry said teasingly, quietly in Louis’ ear, voice dancing with laughter. “That time I was riding you and you came so hard that you saw stars. You passed out for a few seconds.”

Shit. Yeah. That was probably their best ever time. They were on tour: 2015, Toronto. They’d come off stage so high and the adrenaline had taken over them both and they were at it for  _ hours _ . Anyway, the less Louis thought about that, the better.

“Mm, such a waste that you lost your mojo.”

“What?”

The lights went down and the music promptly started. Louis finally smiled, knowing he’d managed to get to Harry.

“Oi! I lost nothing, and you know it,” Harry said in his ear over the music. “The amount of times you were reduced to begging…”

“Shh!”

“On your knees…”

Louis fucking  _ hated _ Harry. He resolved to ignore him, throwing his attention into the second act of the show. Whenever Harry’s knee bumped his, he jolted slightly. 

“You know, being here reminds me of that time we went to see Miss Saigon and I gave you a handjob in the Royal Box,” Harry murmured.

Louis closed his eyes for a moment, composing himself.

“Harry, you need to shut up,  _ now,” _ Louis growled back in a hushed tone. “Seriously.”

Harry was quiet for a couple of minutes, until Louis fidgeted in his seat and Harry’s mouth went to his ear yet again.

“You getting a semi, Lou?” He could hear Harry’s smug grin. “Don’t think I don’t know you well enough to know that little wiggle you just did.”

“Shut _ up.” _

“You don’t need to be embarrassed, love. it’s understandable. In fact, I’m getting a bit hard too, thinking of all the times I made you fall apart.”

Louis stared stubbornly at the stage, barely containing his irritation and stubbornly ignoring his dick. And he couldn’t lie, he was taken by surprise when Harry slipped a hand onto his leg.

“Don’t touch me,” he whispered, slapping Harry’s hand away. He placed his elbow on the armrest, holding his open palm against the side of his face so he couldn’t see Harry. When his knee rested against Louis’, Louis decided it was less hassle to just leave it. It was fairly harmless and if that stopped Harry harassing him further, it was a small price to pay. It was only when the pressure started moving that he realised Harry had his hand on his own knee and was currently rubbing his knuckles on Louis’ thigh.

The fight was leaving Louis. He closed his eyes and let the rest of the world recede momentarily as he got lost in Harry’s touch for a few seconds. 

And then that was enough of that. He swatted Harry’s hand away.

When the show ended, Harry followed close behind Louis as they walked upstairs to the party. All Louis could think was that he needed to get the fuck away from Harry. He ignored the way Harry pressed into his side as he scanned the crowd for somebody,  _ anybody _ he knew.

“Do you remember-” Oh, here we go. “-when I used to fuck you before shows?”

“Nope.”

“Bareback. So you could  _ feel _ me all night. Dripping-”

“Can you stop?!” Louis whined. “What are you doing?”

“Just reminiscing, love,” Harry said innocently, sliding his hand down to squeeze Louis’ bum. Louis’ breath caught in his throat, tilting his head to look at the ceiling and try and compose himself. He closed his eyes as Harry started what could only be described as massaging Louis’ arse.

“Ugh.” Louis groaned. “Fuck. Fine, come with me.”

Louis grabbed his hand, dragging him through the tight crowd. Down a corridor, past the toilets, down a flight of stairs, and before long, they were completely lost in the rabbit warren that was the theatre. 

“You’re such a cunt,” Louis told him, continuing to pull him through a random corridor. “It’s out of order, you know. Manipulating me like this.”

He continued to pull a very quiet Harry round corners and eventually they came to a set of ladies toilets. This part of the theatre was deserted, silent. Louis pulled Harry inside, pushing into a cubicle and throwing himself against the wall. Harry locked the door behind them.

“What now, then, hm?” Harry smirked. 

Louis slowly ran his hands over Harry’s chest, down his arms and round his waist. Now that he’d got Harry alone after three hours of relentless teasing, he was at a loss.

“What do you want to do, Louis?” Harry said quietly. “You don’t even know, do you?”

“Oh, shut up.” Louis sighed, throwing his head back against the wall and running his fingers through his hair. Harry closed the small gap between them, placing his hands on Louis’ hips, and his lips at Louis’ ear.

“How about you let me take care of you,” he rasped. Louis sighed again, a little strained, pushing Harry off of him and palming at his own erection. He was absolutely, categorically, fully hard. His movement caught Harry’s eye and he knocked Louis’ hand out of the way, swiftly and deftly undoing Louis’ jeans, pushing them down slightly to free his hard dick.

Harry tilted Louis’ chin up with his free hand, making eye contact. As he wrapped his long fingers around Louis’ dick, he bit into his own bottom lip, large front teeth digging hard. Louis’ throat emitted a sound somewhere between a sigh and a moan.

“Go on, Lou,” Harry said. “Stop being so fucking uptight, let yourself go. I  _ dare _ you.”

“You’re such a bloody-” Louis broke off to let out a moan as Harry twisted his fist the way he knows Louis particularly liked, “-arsehole.”

Harry ran his thumb over Louis’ head, smearing the precome gathered and taking his hand away to suck on his thumb. Louis was breathless. He pushed his hand into the hair at the back of Harry’s neck and tugged. Harry’s mouth dropped open momentarily, before he regained his composure and tilted it back into a smirk. 

“Admit it, Louis,” Harry said, resuming his task. “You’d bend over backwards for one more night with me. Literally.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Louis grunted. 

Louis was pleased to observe that Harry was also short of breath. They were quiet for a moment, heavy breaths the only sound and when Louis let out another moan, Harry leaned his head forward and let out a loud, guttural moan in Louis’ ear in response.

“Fuck, Haz,” Louis whined, tightening his grip in Harry’s hair. 

“God,” Harry whispered. “If we weren’t in a toilet, I’d finger you as well.”

“Shut up!” Louis moaned. He reached for Harry’s belt, successfully getting it undone before Harry smacked at him.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” he growled.

“Why?”

Harry stilled his hand, gently squeezing at Louis’ dick and tilting his head slightly to the side.

“This isn’t about my pleasure, Louis. This is about me watching you fall completely apart. Because I know how weak you are for me.”

“You are so fucking big-headed!” Louis scoffed. “How did you get like this?”

Harry started to pump his fist again, harder and faster and Louis moaned loudly, unable to tear his eyes away from where they were locked with Harry’s, except when his own eyelids flickered closed for a moment.

“Jesus, Harry. Go on, put some effort into it.”

Harry huffed impatiently. Louis started to let out little breathy whines, which he knew used to drive Harry absolutely wild. The subtle changes in Harry proved to Louis it still worked - the tremble of his bottom lip, the slight stutter of his grip, the twitch in his eyebrows.

“Fuck. Baby,” Harry whispered. 

Louis pulled him closer, breathing into his ear and giving little licks to his earlobe. As irritating as he found Harry these days, being with him like this felt like coming home. 

“Harry,” Louis murmured. 

“Gonna come for me, Lou?” Harry asked quietly. “Gonna come all over my hand? Make a mess?”

“I love you,” Louis whined.

“Oh, shut up,” Harry growled. “I love you, too.”

“Gonna come for you, babe.”

Harry promptly removed his hand from Louis’ dick. Louis whined from the loss but gasped as Harry dropped to his knees. He took Louis into his mouth all at once, unflinching as Louis’ head hit the back of his throat. He looked up at Louis, mouth full, and winked.

“Oh, my God.” Louis groaned, closing his eyes for a second. Harry remained still, and Louis didn’t even need to think about it. He knew exactly what it meant.

He slipped his fingers into Harry’s hair, getting a good grip. Harry let out a quiet moan, vibrating around Louis and  _ holy shit _ it felt incredible.

“Okay?” Louis asked. Harry hummed in assent. 

Louis started to thrust eagerly, looking down as Harry’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. As Louis snapped his hips forward over and over, he moaned loudly and revelled in the fact it felt  _ so fucking good. _ He was almost disappointed as he felt his orgasm swiftly building, and he mentally screamed at himself,  _ don’t come don’t come DON’T COME. _

He bought himself 10 seconds at most. The vindictive part of him gave Harry no warning, thrusting even faster as he tipped over the edge and came into Harry’s mouth, hard and fast and sudden. He continued to snap his hips, slowing as he rode out his orgasm before sighing loudly and pushing Harry away from him. Harry sat back on his heels as Louis slid down the wall and sat opposite him, catching his breath.

“Fucking wanker!” Harry said, coughing and spluttering. “You could’ve warned me.”

Louis just smiled at him. High, spaced out, satisfied. He took Harry’s hand in his.

“That’s what you get for teasing me all night.”

Harry grinned slightly before letting out a small laugh, coughing again. With difficulty, he shuffled himself to kneel between Louis’ legs, smiling before leaning forward and kissing him.

“Come on.” Harry sighed, standing to his feet. “Put that thing away. James’ll be wondering where we’ve got to.”

It took them ten minutes to find their way back to the party, hiding from the occasional staff member that walked past. They found James and congratulated him on a job well done. 

“You two didn’t kill each other, then?”

“No, but I’m going to kill  _ you,” _ Louis told him.

“Well, if that’s all you’ve got to say, I think I got off lightly,” James said brightly.

“He was pretty angry earlier,” Harry contributed. “But I think I’ve sucked all the fight out of him, to be honest.”

Harry gave Louis the absolute dirtiest of grins. Louis darted his eyes away from him, willing himself not to go red and Harry coughed pointedly.

Louis didn’t stay too long after that. He found James and said his goodbyes, specifically avoiding an awkward interaction with Harry, and slipped off home.

-

“What the fuck is this?!”

If there was anything Louis hated, it was being woken abruptly. He’d vowed to himself to beat the shit out of whoever was shouting before he’d even opened his eyes. When he did open his eyes, he saw a furious Niall standing over his bed.

“I asked you a question!”

“How the hell did you get in my house?”

“I’m waiting for an explanation.”

Louis huffed, sitting up and leaning against his headboard, rubbing his eyes. “What are you on about?”

Niall thrust his phone into Louis’ hands. Louis scanned the article on the screen.  _ Shit. _

“Okay.” Louis pouted. “What specifically is your question?”

“Well, as far as I knew, you and Harry couldn’t stand being in the same room as each other. And yet! There are photos here of you two with his arm around your waist. Oh, and another one of you holding hands.”

“We just got a bit drunk and put our differences aside for the sake of James. Okay?”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care.” Louis shrugged. “What are you expecting me to say?”

“I don’t fucking know!”

“How did you get in my house?”

“Your cleaner let me in.”

“Well, look. Piss off. Go downstairs and make me some breakfast, I’ll have a shower and be down in twenty minutes.”

“You’re an arsehole.” Niall rolled his eyes. “How many eggs do you want?”

“Fuck it, let’s go mad. I’ll have three.”

Louis watched Niall leave the room before picking up his phone.

_ L: ‘According to The Sun we’re back together, Haz. Were you gonna tell me?’ _

_ H: ‘News to me’ _

_ L: ‘Well, forget all about it because we are absolutely NOT getting back together’ _

_ L: ‘Although you’re always invited to suck my dick’ _

_ L: ‘Literally’ _

_ H: ‘I’ll always be gagging to do it’ _

_ H: ‘Literally :)’ _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading <3 You can find me on [Tumblr](https://catfishau.tumblr.com/) and if you enjoyed this, please consider reblogging the [post](https://catfishau.tumblr.com/post/171882469441/dinosaursmate-we-know-the-game)!


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